Grinding-mill.



P. D. GIDDINGS.

GRINDING MILL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27, 1912 Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

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THE NORRIS PE7r.R5 CO. PHUTOJJJHQ, WASHINGTON, u

P. D. GIDDINGS.

GRINDING MILL.

APPLICATION F1LED'NOV.27,1912.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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THE NORRIS PETERS C0 PHOTO LITHO WAS/lIHu/UN D. c.

F. D. GIDDINGS.

Patented 1V[a1.9, 1915.

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THE NURR/s PETERS (7O.v PHoToL/THQ. WASHING roN, n

P. D. GIDDINGS. GRINDING MILL. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27, 1912.

Patented Mani), 1915.

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FRANK I). GIDDINGS, OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO.

GRIN DING-MILL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. a, rare.

Application filed November 27, 1912. Serial No. 733,846.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK D. GrnnINcs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fort Collins, in the county of Larimer and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grinding- Mills, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in grinding mills and its principal object is to provide a mechanism of simple construction whereby alfalfa or other similar products fed into the machine, will be readily and thoroughly ground to a meal suitable for animal fodder.

Another ob ect of my invention resides in the provision of means whereby rocks or other obstructive objects are automatically ejected from the operating parts of the 1nachine, thereby preventing possible breakage and interference with the operation of the mill, and a further object is to provide detachable and reversible cutter bars which may be readily replaced in case of wear or breakage, and which double the period during which the mill may be employed without resharpening the cutting edges of the parts which cooperate to reduce the alfalfa stalks and leaves to a meal of the desired fineness.

The above and other objects, all of which will be fully brought out in the following description, I attain by the mechanism shown in the accompanying drawings in the various views of which like parts are similarly designated, and in which Figure 1 represents a plan view of my improved mill. Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same, Fig. 3, an enlarged section taken along the line 33, Fig. 1, Fig. 4, a fragmentary section along the line 44, Fig. 3,

Fig. 5, a section taken along the line 55, Fig. 3, Fig. 6, a fragmentary top view of a portion of the machine, looking in the direction of the arrow at, Fig. 3. Fig. 7, a perspective view of one of the reversible cutter bars on the rotary grinding element, and Fig. 8, a fragmentary plan view of the said grinding element showing the spiral arrangement of the cutter bars connected therewith.

' Referring more specifically to the drawings the numeral 2 designates a carriage composed of a supporting frame 3 which is mounted upon wheels 4. Rigidly secured upon the side bars 5 of the frame at the rear end of the carriage is a hopper c, preferably shaped in the form of a wagon box, into which the alfalfa to be ground is fed, and the carriage is provided at its opposite end wlth a forwardly inclined endless conveyer 7 which is operatively mounted in a casing 8 to elevate the meal discharged from the grinding mechanism of the mill for its dellvery into a Wagon or other suitable receptacle, the said casing having with this end in View been provided with a downwardly directed spout 9.

An endless belt conveyer 10 preferably composed of a blanket made of rubber or other suitable material, is mounted upon drums 12 and 13 which are rotatably supported in bearings at opposite ends of the hopper 6, the upper portion of the said conveyer, which is supported upon idle rollers 23, constituting the substantially horizontal surface upon which the alfalfa fed into the hopper is received, and which in the operation of the mill, carries it to the grinding mechanism at the forward end of the same.

An endless belt 14 consisting of a pair of chains connected by transverse slats, is mounted upon two pairs of sprocket wheels on shafts 15 and 16 which are rotatably supported in bearings on standards 17 and 18 of different heights which are erected upon the side bars of the frame. lhe belt 14 moves at its forward end in close proximity to the upper surface of the conveyer 10 and extends obliquely, rearwardly with relation to the direction in which the said surface moves, for the purpose of providing a posi tive means for impelling the alfalfa fed into the hopper 6, into the grinding mill as will hereinafter be more fully described.

The bearings on which the drum 13 at the forward end of the conveyer 10 is rotatably mounted, are connected at the ends of two arms 19 which are fulcrumed at their opposite extremities upon a transverse shaft 20 which is rotatably mounted in hearings on the supporting frame, and the said arms are connected by means of a transverse yoke 21 whose divergent extremities are by means of coiled springs 22 suspended from the superposed side bars 5 of the frame.

A scraper 24 which engages the surface of the belt as it moves around the drum 13 is by means of arms 25 connected with the yoke 21 for the purpose of removing adherent matter from the said surface, which matter when dislodged by the scraper, falls in a bag 26 formed of a piece of cloth or other suitable material which extending transversely of the frame 3, is connected at its longitudinal edges to the scraper 24 and at the edge of the chute 27 through which the meal discharged from the grinding mill is conducted to the foot of the elevator at the forward end of the carriage.

The grinding mill repeatedly referred to in the foregoing description, consists of a cylinder 28 composed of a plurality of adjoining sections 29 which are mounted upon a shaft 30 and held in place thereon by means of washers 31 and nuts 32 which engage the outermost sections as is best shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, the said shaft having been provided at its end portion with left and right hand screw threads for the application of the nuts.

Each of the cylinder sections 29 is provided with a plurality of equidistant, radially extending wings 33 reinforced by ribs 34 and provided with holes for the reception of bolts 35 bv means of which the cutter bars 36 are rigidly secured thereto. These bars which in length equal the width of the cylinder sections, are as best shown in of the drawings, formed at their longitudlnal edges with V -shaped teeth whose convergent edges are sharpened to disintegrate the alfalfa fed into the mill, and the several sec tions of which the cylinder is composed are arranged on the shaft 30 so that the cutter bars secured to the corresponding wlngs of the same are out of alinement to form by their staggered arrangement, cutting elements which extend spirally along the circumferential surface of the cylinder as shown in Fig. 8. The sections of which the cylinder is composed have at the feet of their respective wings, transverse recesses 33 preferably formed by ridges on the circumference of the sections and adapted to receive the inner edges of the cutter bars secured to the wings, for the purpose of holding them rigidly in place when they are subjected to strain in the operation of the mill. The shaft 30 of the cylinder is supported in boxes 37 mounted upon the side bars 5 of the frame and it carries a pulley 38 by means of which it is operatively connected with the shaft of a traction engine or other conveniently located motor.

The rotary grinding element is partially inclosed at its upper and forward sides by a concave 39 formed of a number of sections which, with the exception of the movable covers hereinafter to be described, are secured at their extremities upon two heads 40 which being disposed beyond the ends of the cylinder 28 are rigidly secured to the side bars of the frame. The lowermost section at the forward side of the concave consists of a plate 41 which by means of a punching press has been formed with a multiplicity of integral, inwardly extending teeth 42; the upper concave sections are composed of angle bars 43 which on their radially extending flanges, carry inwardly extending plates 44 which at their inner longitudinal edges are provided with V-shaped teeth formed and spaced similar to those of the cutter bars but arranged in staggered relation to the same, so that during the rotary movement of the cylinder 28, the teeth of the cutter bars 36 will pass between those on the stationary plates 44. The teeth on the perforated plate 41 are likewise arranged in alinement with the spaces between the cutting teeth on the cylinder so that during the rotary movement of the latter, the said cutting teeth will pass between the teeth 42 on the plate. The remaining portion of the concave at the rearward side thereof is composed of a number of adjoining sheet metal covers 45 secured at their lower ends upon hinge-plates 46 which by means of knuckles 47 formed at their extremities are pivotally mounted upon a shaft 48 which is supported in upwardly extending knuckles 49 on a stationary hinge-member 50 secured upon the side bars 5 of the frame. The member 50 has intermediate of its knuckles and the thereto contiguous knuckles 47 of the several covers 45, lugs 51 through which the shaft 48 extends and whose exterior surface is concentric to the same. The hinge plates 46 are provided with curved flanges 52 which extend normally over the forward portions of the respective lugs 51 and the said lugs and flanges have openings which when the covers are in the closed position, register to receive shearing pins 53 made of wood or other easily broken material. The hinge plates are furthermore provided with toothed bars 54 similar to those secured to the angle bars 43 and likewise extending into the concave.

The stationary member 50 of the hinge is concave at its rearward side and at the lower edge of the same is sharpened to provide a scraper 74 which by engagement with the circumferential surface of a roller 55 which is rotatably disposed in the concavity of the said member, removes adherent matter therefrom. The roller 55 whose shaft is mounted in bearings on the standards 17 which as hereinbefore described, also support the forward shaft of the endless belt 14, normally engages the upper surface of the conveyer 10 at its forward end at which it is yieldingly suspended from the side bars of the frame, and it serves in the operation of the machine to crush the leaves and stalks of the alfalfa hay and to a certain extent, excludes rocks and other obstructive objects from the concave.

The rotary movement-of the cutter cylinder 28 which as hereinabove explained is imparted thereto through the medium of the pulley 38 is transmitted to the elevator 7, the roller 55, the forward shaft of the endless belt 14, and the rearward drum 12 of the conveyer by the following means: A pulley 56 on the cylinder shaft 30 is by means of a belt 57 connected with a pulley 58 of larger diameter which is mounted on a countershaft 59 supported in transverse relation to the frame on bearings on the side bars 5, the said belt being tensioned by the use of a sheave 60 which engages the upper surface thereof and which is rotatably mounted upon the extremity of a lever 61 which is fulcrumed on the frame as at 62 and which at its lower end is held in its adjusted positions on a quadrant 63 by means of a spring catch of suitable construction. The rotary movement of the shaft 59 is transmitted to the line shaft 20 which as hereinabove explained, supports the arms 19 between which the forward drum 13 of the conveyer is mounted, by means of a chain 64 which runs over sprocket wheels on the two shafts. A chain 65 running over sprocket wheels on the line shaft 20 and the shaft 66 at the lower end of the elevator 7, serves to impart an upward movement to the latter and a sprocket chain 67 run over a corresponding wheel at the opposite end of the line shaft, engages a similar wheel on a stud shaft 68 which is mounted upon one of the pair of standards 17 between the bearings in which the shafts of the roller 55 and the belt 14 are supported. Three gear wheels designated by the numerals 69, 70 and 71 and mounted respectively upon the two lastmentioned shafts and the stud shaft 68, are provided to transmit the rotary movement of the latter to the roller 55 and to thesprocket wheels upon which the endless belt 14 has its movement, and a chain 7 2 which runs over sprocket wheels of equal diameter on the line shaft and the shaft of the rearward drum 12 of the conveyer, serves to move the latter in the direction of the arrow a, shown in Fig. 3.

The alfalfa hay or other similar product fed into the hopper 6 upon the upper surface of the conveyer 10 is by the movement of the latter, carried toward the front end of the machine where it is engaged by the forward end of the endless belt 14 which moving in the direction of the arrow 0, impels it into the space between the roller 55 and the yieldingly mounted forward end of the conveyer, through which it moves while being partially reduced by the frictional engagement of the said roller. The hay when discharged over the forward end of the belt conveyer is engaged by the cutter bars on the rotating cylinder 28 and carried in the direction of the arrow d through the space between the circumferential surface of the latter and the inner surface of the concave in which it is reduced to a meal by the passage of the teeth of the cutter bars between those which project inwardly from the concave sections. The hay after having passed between the teeth on the rotary element and those on the bars 43 is, in a disintegrated condition, carried toward the perforated plate 41 through which its fine constituents are discharged into the chute 27, while the coarser particles are further reduced by their passage between the teeth on the cylinder and those on the plate before they are discharged from the concave. The product of the mill falling in the chute 27 is conveyed thereby to the foot of the elevator 7 from which it is delivered through the spout 9 at the upper end of its casing into a wagon or other receptacle placed subjacent the same. The scrapers 24 and 74 which, respectively, engage the surfaces of the belt conveyer and the roller 55, remove adherent matter which falls into the bag 26 to be subsequently moved into the mill and the passage of the meal over the rearward edge of the chute is prevented by the provision at the said edge of a toothed bar 7 8 which is similar in construction to those on the concave sections and likewise extends into the concave. Rocks or other obstructive objects which may have passed between the roller 55 and the conveyer 10, into the mill, are together with the hay, carried upwardly into the rearward end of the conveyer at which the hinged covers 45 are situated. The engagement of an obstructive object with one of the sections of the toothed bars 54, exerts an outward pressure on the cover with which said section is connected and thereby forces the said cover to move about its pivotal axis by shearing the pin 53 which normally holds it against rotation, and the opening thus produced in the concave, provides an outlet for the obstructive matter before any damage has been done to the cooperating parts of the mill. Inasmuch as both the concave and the cylinder 28 are composed of detachably connected sections, broken or worn parts may be readily re placed and the reversibility of the cutter bars, doubles the period during which the mill can be operated without resharpening the teeth, which is of special importance when, as is often the case, the machine is used at a place remote from a repair shop.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. In a grinding mill, a concave including a section composed of a plurality of hingedcovers mounted to move independently about a common axis and adapted to separately open the concave for the ejection of obstructive objects, by outward pressure, shearing- .pins holding said covers and a grinding element movement in said concave.

2. In a grinding mill, a stationary hingemember, a concave including a movable section hinged upon said member to open the concave for the ejection of obstructive objects, by outward pressure, a shearing pin occupying normally alined openings in said support and the section hinged thereon, to be sheared by movement of the latter about its pivotal axis, and a grinding element having a rotary movement in said concave.

3. In a grinding mill, a stationary hingemember, a concave including a section composed of a plurality of covers hinged on said member to move independently about a common axis and adapted to separately open the concave for the ejection of obstructive objects, by outward pressure, shearing pins occupying normally alined openings in the said member and the several covers to be sheared by movement of the latter about the said axis, and a grinding element having a rotary movement in the concave.

4. In a grinding mill, a stationary hingemember having knuckles and intermediate thereof, exteriorly curved lugs, a shaft extending through said knuckles, a concave including a section composed of covers provided with knuckles which are hinged upon the said shaft and with curved flanges disposed adjacent said lugs, said lugs and said against rotation, having a rotary flanges having openings which register when the covers are in the closed position, shearing pins in the said registering openings, to be sheared by movement of the covers about the said shaft, and a grinding element having a rotary movement in the concave.

5. In a grinding mill, a-concave including a movable section having series of inwardly extending teeth and adaptedit'o open the 0011- cave for the ejection of obstructive objects, by pressure against the said teeth, and a grinding element having a rotary movement in the concave and provided with teeth which pass through those on the said section.

6. In a grinding mill, a concave including a section composed of a series of independently movable covers, each provided with a series of teeth and adapted to separately open the concave for the ejection of obstructive objects, by pressure against the said teeth, and a grinding element having a rotary movement in said concave and provided with teeth which pass through those on the said covers.

7 In a grinding mill, a concave comprising a grinding section and between said section and its feed-opening, a pivotal section adapted to open the concave for the ejection of obstructive objects before they reach the grinding section, by outward pressure, a shearing pin holding said pivoted section against outward movement, and a grinding element having a rotary movement in said concave.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK D. GIDDIN GS. Witnesses:

G. J. ROLLANDET, L. RHoADEs.

Copies; of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents. Washington, D; 0. 

